HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED LIE
by Fizzabell Marlee
Summary: This story starts in December- So please read the Prolouge. Chapter 1 is fairly G rated, Chapter 2 introduces HarryDraco Slash and it will get saucey from there
1. Professor Clarke's Secret

Prologue- PLEASE READ THIS OR YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING! - It's Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, and Professor McGonagall has left Hogwarts on urgent business. Their new Transfiguration professor and Head of House is Professor Lucinda Clarke, whom has been alive since the 1400's. She had a curse put on her that forces her to outlive every single person who could be considered kin. She only looks sixteen, because the curse causes her to age slowly. She came from the Australian Ministry of Magic by Dumbledore's request to replace Professor McGonagall. *********************************************************************  
  
Harry sat next to Hermione during Potions, a few days before the Christmas holidays, while Snape stood at the front of the class. "Now," he began, "I want to go over Healing Solutions again, because you all need to perfect it for your N.E.W.T's. You are all here because you possess some," he glanced at Harry, "talent in potions. We did this last lesson, so I will just go over the mistakes you made last time. Now, this potion," he said, holding up a vile of silvery white liquid, "is Potters. It doesn't include Ray of Moon, so this potion would do absolutely nothing for a sick person. This," he said, putting down Harry's and holding up another, which was more white then silver, "is a perfect example of a Healing solution. It." but he broke off, because the door to the dungeon was opened. "Hem, Hem." The class gasped, but all grinned in relief to see the Professor Clarke's face smirking at them.  
  
"That was fun!" she said with a giggle. Snape didn't look amused. "G'day, Mr. Snape."  
  
"Professor." Said Snape with loathing.  
  
"Sorry, professor," she said with a grin, "but I was wonderin' if I could borrow Harry and Draco for a min? You should know, the headmaster supposedly talked to you about it."  
  
"Don't be to long. You have less then five minutes."  
  
"Ah, but this may take a while, you know.?"  
  
"Fine. Potter, Malfoy, take your things and follow Professor Clarke."  
  
"Cheers, Serverus. C'mon you two." She finished, waiting outside for them. Harry rose out of his chair; Hermione mouthing to him 'Whats this about?' and Harry shrugged. He picked up his books and crossed the room and out of the dungeon into the hall, just ahead of Malfoy. Professor Clarke was waiting for them with one of her I'm-too-sweet-you-can't-refuse-me smiles. Malfoy looked downright annoyed.  
  
"Ok, then! Follow me!" she said with a grin, and she turned and led them back towards the school. Harry and Malfoy followed behind her, not speaking. A few minutes later they reached the Entrance Hall and continued to follow her towards her office, which had previously been Professor McGonagall's. She unlocked the door with an old key that she pulled out of her pocket, and held it open for them as they entered.  
  
Her office looked very unique. Her desk was on the other side of the room, facing the door, and there were bookshelves and draws against unused wall. There were three couches in the middle of the room that were renaissance style, surrounding a coffee table. A fire facing the coffee table was roaring, making the room very warm. It had a lot of renaissance objects in it, ranging from a battle axe to a set of silver cutlery. They hung on the walls, which were covered in thousands of photographs that were all in black and white, which contained different people from different ages through time.  
  
Behind her desk on the wall were at least fifteen photo's of the same people: an older woman, an older man, three handsome boys who seemed to be around the same age, 17, and four beautiful young girls, the oldest looking around 20, and the youngest looking 7, with twin girls in between looking around 16. These people were in many of the photographs behind her desk, and in most of the photo's they appeared to have aged, except for one of the twins, who didn't seem to have aged with her family at all. The rest of the photographs contained a variety of people, all of different ages in different times, and Harry noticed the only three colour photos on the wall nearest to him. One held a group of people, all looking very relaxed and laughing, another had an aerial picture of a large city, that seemed to be alive as people and various flying objects moved in and out of the frame, and the last one held a picture of Professor Clarke, looking still only sixteen, minus the black gloves she was never seen without, next to a young red haired man who looked about 20. They were in tatty clothing and looked very malnourished. They were standing in what appeared to be an endless desert, and they looked absolutely thrilled to be there. There was a small gold plaque under the photo, and as Malfoy placed his bag on the floor and flopped onto a couch in front of the fire, Harry moved in closer to read the plaque.  
  
Emmaline Prudence Lucinda Peacedale (1400 - ) &  
Robert Daniel Clarke (1768 - 1848),  
After escaping Botany Bay and the First Fleet to begin a new  
Wizarding Community on this 'God-forsaken hothouse!' of  
a country, 1789, along with seven other convicted wizards.  
  
Harry looked at the photo. The man, Robert, was waving at him, his convict clothing hanging loosely on him. But what Harry couldn't understand was Professor Clarke. The school had been introduced to her and Dumbledore had said her name was Lucinda Clarke. But here her name was Emmaline Peacedale. She'd told them in Transfiguration when telling his class a little bit about herself that she'd never been married, because she didn't like committing herself like that to someone only to watch them die. So why the name change? He continued to stare at the photo when he noticed that Professor Clarke was standing next to him, looking into the photo.  
  
"That's where Hidden City is," She said, and Harry looked harder as though a giant city was going to appear in the background, "took us nearly 40 years to get it running, with the John's always looking for us. John's being the police back then." She said to his confused face. She motioned for him to take a seat on one of the couches, avoiding the fact that he, Harry, had discovered her new kind of identity.  
  
"Ok you two," she said, taking a seat on the couch that wasn't occupied, "I'm going to make this as quick as I can. Now, I'm going away a few days before the holidays, and the headmaster has asked me to take you two with me. Draco, sit up. Now, firstly I have to call into the Ministry and see Minister Fudge, so you will both accompany me there. Harry," she said, turning to him, "once we're there I'm going to leave you in the care of Arthur Weasley, Albus says you know him, and he'll accompany you to You- Know-Where, where you'll be joined by the rest of the Weasley's when the holidays start and a few other people. Ok, that's you done. You can head beck to your dorm."  
  
"Where am I going?" Harry asked, "Am I going to The Burrow?" Malfoy gave a smirk. Harry knew he was dying to say something, and white hot anger fueled inside him.  
  
"Ok, um, Harry, wait for me outside me office. I won't be a few minutes with Mr. Malfoy." Harry headed out of her office, the thousands of faces following him towards the door. He leant against the cool stone wall and waited for about ten minutes, after which Malfoy emerged from Professor Clarke's office, looking very pleased with himself. But for some reason, he looked, not as Harry had seen, where his smiles where always smirks, but actually truly happy. He looked absolutely ecstatic, and didn't even give Harry a second look as he headed towards the dungeons, a spring in his step.  
  
"Harry? You still there? In ya' come." Came Professor Clarke's sweet young voice from inside. Harry moved back in, to find her with a grin on her face looking into one of the black and white photographs, which showed a group of girls playing by a pond.  
  
"Ok, Harry." Said Clarke, pulling out her wand from her robes and locking the door behind him. She placed it back in her pocket. "You're going to the Phoenix Headquarters, because Albus feels you'll be safer there."  
  
"How do you know about.?"  
  
"Harry, I'm going to tell you something that you cannot repeat. Only a few people here know this. I'm going to give you ten seconds to think about why Professor Dumbledore asked me to come to Hogwarts in the middle of last year, just after your fifth year finished. Bear in mind that I come from the second most powerful Ministry of Magic in the World, and that I know about the Order. Actually," she said, turning to face him, "I'm part of it." Harry thought. It dawned on him a few minutes later.  
  
"You're here to look after me?"  
  
"Yup. Listen, Lucinda Clarke isn't actually me real name. And Albus didn't actually say what part of the Ministry I was from. Take a seat." She said, motioning towards the couch before her. Harry sat down. "Do you want a drink?" Harry said yes and Professor Clarke waved her wand around and two iced drinks appeared on the coffee table. Harry took off his cloak and rolled up the sleeves. He had a feeling that the room's temperature was raised to that of an Australian summer. He took a sip of his drink that Professor Clarke handed to him and felt instantly refreshed. She sat down next to him.  
  
"Ok, I think you figured out that me name wasn't really Lucinda. You kind of gave me a look when you were lookin' at the picture of me and Bob in the Simpson, so I, it's the Simpson Desert, Harry. You should get an atlas and have a look some time. Anyways, I figured you'd ask questions and tell Miss. Granger and Mr. Weasley. She'd figure it out and I'd have to leave. My name is Emmaline Peacedale, and I was actually the Defense Ministress of Magic in Hidden City. At first, in 1827, I was Ministress of Magic down there, but I have always specialized in Defense Magic, so I switched. I've had over 500 years to perfect meself in different branches of magic, Mr. Potter, and I've worked along side Albus a few times. When he wrote to me, he asked me if he could enlist me help in protecting you, because there are many different types of spells that I've picked up on me travels, and lots of protection spells at that, so I came here, and when I asked you to stay behind in me Transfiguration class, remember that? When I asked you about your Parrot transformation? Well, as you went, I put a couple of spells on 'ya then, and a few more when we pass in the halls, and there are a few around the castle, and there is three on Gryffindor Common Room. Does that explain anything?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, actually."  
  
"Good. Now drink up. We'll be leaving in three days time, but we'll be leaving at night, so I want to see you with your wand in the Entrance Hall at 9:00 in the evening. Your trunk will be sent to Mrs. Weasley at The Burrow, and she'll take it You-Know-Where. Dumbledore thinks you'd be safer leaving for the Order a few days early, cause no one will expect it."  
  
"Ah, ok. But why did you have to change your name?"  
  
"Dumbledore felt it was necessary. See, some people in England know me as Emmaline, but others know me as Lucinda. These other people, well, let's just say that I'd rather not have them know me true identity. So, okay dokie then. In class please continue to call me Professor Clarke, but outside you can call me Em. Cool?"  
  
"Yeah, that's cool."  
  
"Bonza, Harry." She said, taking a sip of her drink.  
  
"I don't mean to be rude," Harry began, "but who are all of these people?" Em looked around at the walls.  
  
"These are all people that I've met, lived with, worked with.most of them are dead, but, well, what can you do eh? I've got pictures of where I've lived, where I've been, and I think there's one of me getting tried as a witch and burned at the steak, that wasn't very nice, see, problem was," she said, getting up and crossing the room to a small picture, Harry following to have a look, "I'd never had any formal witch training, and this was before I knew I was a witch but after I was cursed. So it was very hard to explain to me town crier that I wasn't a witch, after being continually burned for an hour and a half and not even singeing me hair." Harry looked at the photo, not sure what to say, but upon seeing Emmaline grinning sheepishly at the picture, Harry saw the humor in it and had a closer look. The slightly younger looking Em was screaming her lungs out, flames engulfing her and smoke billowing around the onlookers. Harry saw people running to and from where she was being burned, piling on more wood and hay. Em seemed to have lost her role as a teacher and Harry could see that she was just another teenager, like himself. "Tell you what," she said, "they were so excited that they'd caught a real witch. But after I wouldn't burn, they tied me to a chair, put rocks in me dress pockets and threw me in a pond. Now that was an experience!" She laughed loudly, and Harry listened in. "I sat at the bottom of that bloody pond for three days! Three days! Then me sister came and got me out. See, I was born in Salem, and I was first tried as a witch when I was 14. Me mum was a witch, and she told me after me third unsuccessful burning that I was one too. Strange, though, see, me whole family was magic, 'sept for me sister Helen. She was me twin. Though, after a few years she didn't look like me twin anymore." Em gave a sigh. Harry wasn't to sure what to do.  
  
"So, can't you die until everyone in your family dies?"  
  
"Yep. Well, actually, it's everyone that shares the same bloodline as me. And I've been around for yonks, so well, I'm gonna be here for a while. I tell you, though; I've been in adolescents for the last 400 years. And it's bloody annoying. I reckon that I'm gonna be sixteen for the next 50 years, then I'll turn 17, and then I'll figure out when me next birthday is." The rumble of students outside moving to other classes became apparent.  
  
"So you're technically a teenager like the rest of us?"  
  
"According to the curse, yes. If you're going by records, yes. If your going by muggle records, no. See, I was sent to Australia for practicing witchcraft, with about ten other people. I was on the First Fleet! But me and the others Apparated into Cook's office and destroyed our records, and put a bloody big memory charm on the ship so that no one could remember that we were there. Once we landed, we got as far away as possible and built Hidden City. Pretty neat, huh? According to Muggle records I don't exist! Which is why I sometimes go by the name of Lucinda Clarke, 'cause I know for a fact that there is a muggle somewhere in New South Wales that has that name. So I just pretend to be her if I have to." She turned to face Harry, her teacher face back on. "Albus wants you to feel that you can talk to me, because he reckons we're in the same boat. Don't look at me as a teacher; look at me as a friend. Cause a little blue bird told me that you don't have to many people you can talk to 'bout stuff round here."  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"Maybe. But seriously, I know how it feels to not have someone to talk to. If you get angry about your Godfather, then please come talk to me. Cause trust me, I've dealt with death a zillion times over." She finished, draining her drink.  
  
"Thanks." Said Harry. "Are you always in here? Your office, I mean?"  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
"Who else knows you as Emmaline?"  
  
"Albus, Minerva, Serverus and Mr. Malfoy."  
  
"What?" Harry asked, stepping back, "Do you mean Draco Malfoy?"  
  
"Yeah. I've known him for a while. You know those people who know me as Lucinda? Well, his family is one of them. But I told him a while ago, because he's a friend who isn't dead. But, he can't tell anyone that my name isn't Lucinda, cause if he does he will suffer a long, slow, painful death. A nasty incarnation I picked up.around. But I known him since he was 9."  
  
"Oh. Ok." Said Harry, rather rejected.  
  
"Anyways, just bring your wand along, and in a few days you'll be at headquarters enjoying Christmas."  
  
"Are you going to be there?"  
  
"I'll rock up a few weeks after you do. I got some, err, old friends I gotta see while I'm over there. Now, you got a class to go to and I got students to flirt with.only kidding!" she said with a laugh at Harry's shocked face. He smiled, finished his drink and left Em's office feeling slightly lighter, as she grabbed a few books and headed out a bit after him. 


	2. Draco's Pain

The next three days passed like a whirlwind for everyone except Harry. He'd told Ron and Hermione most of his conversation with Em, but not the parts she'd asked him to keep to himself. Plus, he didn't really know if he'd die a slow and painful death if he told, just like Malfoy would too.  
  
On the third evening, just after dinner, he headed up to the Gryffindor Common Room with Ron and Hermione. They sat up and talked for a while, until Harry checked his watch and realized that he had half and hour before they left. He hurried to his dormitory and grabbed his travelling cloak, changed out of his school uniform, said a quick goodbye to Hermione, who bombarded him with 'Please-Be-Safe's and said bye to Ron, who he'd be seeing in a few days anyway.  
  
He pulled his cloak on and hurried down to the Entrance Hall, where Malfoy was sitting on the last step of the staircase. He heard Harry's footsteps and turned, a look of disappointment spreading across his face. He too was in a travelling cloak, and out of school uniform, wearing normal, if not expensive, clothes under a black velvet cloak.  
  
"Oh. It's just you." He said with disgust.  
  
"Who were you expecting? The Easter Bunny?"  
  
"Your smart, aren't you, Potter?"  
  
"Yeah, I know." Harry said to himself, and he realized how arrogant he sounded. 'Something your father would say' said a quiet voice in his head. Harry crossed the Entrance Hall over to the huge double doors. He opened them and looked over to Hagrid's hut. There were no lights on, and no smoke coming from the chimney. He sighed. It had been a week since Hagrid had left, and Professor Grubbley-Plank was, once again, not answering his questions.  
  
"Ah, good, you're both here." Came Em's sweet voice from behind him. Harry turned around and saw her jumping down the staircase two steps at a time. "Are we ready to go?"  
  
"Yeah, just one thing," Malfoy said as she reached the last step, "Will I need protection where we're going?"  
  
"Nah, we should be right, but if something happens, well, you know what I can do. Is that all? We ready? Bonza! Let's go!"  
  
They headed out the double doors and across the grounds. The sky was overcast, but snow was yet to fall, so it wasn't a bad night. Though he had to pull his cloak up closer, Harry had trouble seeing where everyone was, because there was no moonlight to light the grounds. They headed towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry got an uneasy feeling. He wasn't a very welcome guest there.  
  
"Are we taking Thestrals?" Harry asked.  
  
"Nah, I have a better mode of transport. Thestrals.I don't really trust them." Said Emmaline in front of him. They continued walking; only stopping right at the forests edge. Harry and Malfoy stopped either side of Emmaline.  
  
"BEDIVERE!" she called into the forest. "BEDIVERE! C'MON SWEETIE!" At first Harry had no idea what or who she was calling to, till he heard the soft patter of hooves, and a creature emerged from the forest. At first Harry thought it was a Centaur, and he stepped beck, but it wasn't, and when the creature came into light he saw that it was actually a large winged horse.  
  
"This is Bedivere, Harry. He's a Pegasus. A flying horse. I picked him up in Greece after I accidentally killed his original master. But he was a nasty wizard, wasn't he, baby?" she cooed to the horse, stroking him, while Harry patted its nose. He couldn't tell what colour it was, because it was dark, but its nose was soft, and he could feel its hot breath as it sniffed his hand. Malfoy was patting its side. "You remember Draco, don't you baby? Yes! Good boy!" Em exclaimed. She led Bedivere away from the forest and into a part of the grounds near them that was very large. Harry noticed that there weren't any reins on the Pegasus, and he wondered how they were supposed to steer him.  
  
"Okay dokie. Now, I'll steer him, meaning I'll be sitting in front of his wings," said Em, patting Bedivere roughly where there was a small space before where the wings were and the neck started, "Harry, you'll sit just behind here," she said, moving down to behind the wings, "and you'll be getting him moving, and Draco, you'll be sitting behind Harry and you'll be getting him off the ground. Not Harry!" she said, at Harry and Malfoy's disgusted looks, "I'm talking about the Pegasus! Get 'ya minds outta the gutter, you two!" she laughed at their horrified expressions, "I wouldn't make youse do that!" She gave a giggle, and then helped Harry onto Bedivere. He sat just behind where the wings were.  
  
"Now you will have to kick him with your heel, really hard, right here," she said, holding Harry's foot in her hand, which was at her head hight, and moving it back into where Bedivere's stomach must have been, "If you feel a bit shaky then just grab the wing nice and close to his body, got it? Now the kicks need to be sharp and hard. You, Draco." and she helped Malfoy onto the Pegasus behind Harry. He felt slightly uneasy about having Malfoy behind him. She ran through what Malfoy had to do, then ran around to where Bedivere's head was. The Pegasus knelt down to let her on, and Harry and Malfoy fell forward, nearly flipping over the wings. Bedivere straitened up, and Em got her wand out, gave it a flick, conjured a whip, gave another flick and in a blue flash turned her wand into a whip too.  
  
"Ok, Harry, start giving him some sharp kicks till I say so."  
  
Harry did and the Pegasus lurched forward. With every kick Harry gave him he went faster, and very soon they were into a very fast canter. Em's long brown hair was flowing behind her, the two whips in either hand, and she seemed to be steering Bedivere by sharply hitting him on either side, depending what way she wanted to go.  
  
"HARRY, STOP! DRACO, START! LEAN FORWARD AND HANG ON!"  
  
Harry felt Malfoy's feet brush his own and jerk backwards into the Pegasus's side. At that precise instant, Harry saw the wings in front of him begin to move. He grabbed the wings where Em had told him to, and they suddenly inclined strait up, and left the ground. Harry instantly felt himself slip, but held on tight and leaned forward. Malfoy's hands wrapped around his neck and clung on tightly; Harry let one hand go and removed Malfoy's from his neck, where they wrapped around his waist in fright.  
  
They were spiralling upwards and within a few moments were just below the clouds. They straitened up and Malfoy slipped to the side, taking Harry with him. He continued to hold on and Malfoy slid back into position. The wings were no longer moving, they were out strait, and must have spanned around 5 metres. They glided for a few minutes until they had found a good altitude, then Em turned around to face them.  
  
"Wasn't that bad, was it?" she asked with a grin.  
  
Malfoy gave a mock, sarcastic laugh. Harry checked to make sure his glasses were still on his face. He had to admit, this was much easier then flying by Thestral. The ground below them flowed past like a river, and Harry could see the castle disappearing in the distance. Looking over Bedivere's wings, Harry could see tiny towns collected here and there, but they were all surrounded by rolling hills and paddocks. A small convey of cars moved silently below, their headlights like tiny fireflies, and Harry heard Malfoy mutter, "What the.?"  
  
They travelled like this for twenty minutes, until Em asked, out of the blue, "Can you smell that?"  
  
"Smell what?" Harry asked.  
  
"Rain."  
  
"What's wrong with a little rain?" Malfoy asked, "Who cares?"  
  
"Bedivere can't fly in rain. We're going to have to stop."  
  
"WHAT?" came Malfoy's voice, loud in Harry's ear, "We can't stop!"  
  
"Get over it, Malfoy. Who cares?" Harry snapped at him. He felt a sharp jab in his back, and he elbowed Malfoy back in the stomach. Malfoy grabbed Harry's hair and jerked his head back; Harry gave a howl of pain. Emmaline turned around, gasped, and as Harry flung his arms back to grab whatever bit of Malfoy he could, Em had climbed across the wings and was in front of Harry. She reached into Harry's hair and dug her nails into Malfoy's hands; he shrieked and let go. Harry fell forward, being caught by Em, who became unstable, and she yelled, "WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOUR DOING!?" She moved in between Harry and Malfoy, her back against Harry's, and started speaking some weird language in a rushed and angry voice that Malfoy seemed to understand. He was being very un-objective and seemed to give up on trying to fight her. She turned her head and said to Harry, "Right. You two will sit here until we land. I don't care if you fight, but when youse fall to your death it'll be my problem! Wait till we hit the ground! Jeeze."  
  
She swung her leg around to the side of the Pegasus, and for a moment Harry thought she was going to jump. She did. She flung herself towards the wing, miraculously catching it, and Bedivere jerked it up, which sent her flying. Harry watched in fear as she floated in mid-air for a moment, before wrapping her arms around Bedivere's neck. She swung herself up into a sitting position and gave a sigh.  
  
"Ok, we're going to land, and I need youse t' lean back."  
  
As soon as she said this they instantly dropped. The Pegasus was heading head first strait down, and Harry was sure he was going to fall forward and die. The wind rippled through his hair, sweat built up on his neck as he saw his impending death grow closer and closer.they were heading for and empty paddock with clean cut grass set on a rolling hill.Harry could see it now.him, falling, and Bedivere accidentally crushing him when it landed.he was brought back to reality when Em yelled, "GET READY!"  
  
They landed with a thud, which was very painful, and Malfoy, who'd been holding onto Harry's hood, slipped off the side, taking Harry with him. They landed in a crumpled mess next to the Pegasus's back hooves. Em slid off gracefully and stood before them.  
  
"I'm going to find out how far it is to London, and."  
  
"How'd you do that little jumpy-flying thing up there?" Harry asked in awe on the ground.  
  
"Well, when you have nothing to lose and a lot of time to practice, well.I'm going to see how far we are from London, and I expect to find BOTH of you alive when I get back." She whipped out her wand and conjured a fire near them, circled by a ring of rocks. She walked over and helped both of them up, and in doing so, slipped her hand into their robes and took their wands.  
  
"Hey!" Harry and Malfoy said in protest.  
  
"I'll be back in about half and hour." And with that she Disapparated with a loud bang. As soon as she'd left, it started to rain. Luckily the fire was unaffected.  
  
Harry stood there, not believing what she'd done. She'd left him alone, wandless and defenceless with Draco Malfoy, who Harry knew would surely kill hem, magic or no magic. Malfoy turned to him.  
  
"Well, would you look at this? Famous Harry Potter, with no wand, stuck on a hill with the son of a great Death Eater. Awful predicament you're in, eh Potter? What are you going to do? Ignore me or fight me?"  
  
"Fight you? Why would I fight you? You haven't done anything yet."  
  
"Oh come on!" said Malfoy, angrily, "Look at you! Standing there all noble and heroic when you've just got my father thrown in jail and slandered my family's name!" He moved forward and shoved Harry hard. "COME ON!!" he screamed at him, "DO SOMETHING!!" Harry noticed that Malfoy's voice was shaky and angry, but at the same time, weak and vulnerable. He collapsed in a fit of tears, his white blonde hair messed and shining in the firelight, droplets of water running down his face.  
  
"How do you do it?" Malfoy asked, his voice crackly with tears, "You don't have any family, and you've seen them all die, and you've had to put up with so much crap.and I.my dad's gone.you're fine and my dad's gone."  
  
Harry knelt down next to Malfoy, feeling overcome with compassion and pity. He hesitantly patted him on the back and said, "Don't be stupid, it'll get better for you. I mean like, you've got lots of money and your family's powerful."  
  
Malfoy gave a huge sob that was mixed in with a hiccup.  
  
".and your dad will get out of Azkaban in no time, you know that."  
  
Malfoy seemed to have stopped crying. He turned to Harry.  
  
"How do you do it?"  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Put up with (hiccup) everything?"  
  
"Um, I don't know." Said Harry truthfully, as he stared into the fire, "I guess I've had to, so I've just learned to. It's not that hard after a while."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"(Hiccup) If my father.you know.did anything.the last time you (hiccup).saw him."  
  
"It's fine. I don't care." This was followed with a few seconds of silence.  
  
"Hey Potter."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Can I. (hiccup).touch your scar?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I wanna know what it feels (hiccup) like. Seeing as we're being all nice and.stuff. (hiccup)"  
  
Harry felt slightly put back at this. But he felt something inside of him; uneasy butterflies seemed to have built up in his stomach, and were now putting on an air show for his insides. It was the same kind of feeling that he used to get whenever Cho talked to him, and he didn't know why it was there now.  
  
"Uh, sure. If you want."  
  
He tensed up and Malfoy lightly touched his forehead and ran three fingers over his scar. It prickled slightly but it didn't hurt. Malfoy brushed Harry's hair aside.  
  
"Is it true then?"  
  
"Is what true?"  
  
"That it hurts and you can feel The Dark Lord's feelings, and be inside of him?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh." There was a silence. "That thing doesn't feel like anything."  
  
"I know."  
  
They sat there in silence, next to each other staring into the fire, getting drenched. Harry tried to make sense of the situation. His arch nemesis was being nice to him, and he was being nice back. They seemed to have reached an understanding.  
  
The rain continued to fall, and Harry flicked his hair off his face. He realised that he couldn't see out of his glasses, so he took them off and placed them inside his robes. Malfoy looked at him.  
  
"You don't look so freaky without your glasses on. Can you see without them?"  
  
"A little bit."  
  
"Cool. Hey, what was Cho Chang like?"  
  
"She cried every three minutes!" said Harry, chuckling, and Malfoy laughed. "I mean like, we went on out date and all she could talk about was Cedric. I was a bit put out by that, but then she'd start crying without warning and over nothing! I mean, she was all right.but, well, she just couldn't get over Cedric." Harry thought for a little while, staring into the flames.  
  
"Have you ever gone out with that Mud.Hermione?" Harry realised that Malfoy was really trying hard.  
  
"No."  
  
They continued to stare at the fire in silence, until Harry realised that Malfoy's head had slipped on to his shoulder, and he was sleeping soundly. "Hey Potter."  
  
Maybe not.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'm sorry that I've been a prat to you and your friends. I didn't mean it, but well, my father told me."  
  
"Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter." Malfoy yawned and lay back, now that the rain had stopped, and rested his head on his hands.  
  
"Do you reckon we'd have been friends if you'd been in Slytherin?"  
  
"I dunno. Maybe. I've been told we've got a lot in common."  
  
"Well, I know you'd be the Seeker in Quiditch.I don't think I'd be on the team."  
  
"Why not? You're not that bad a player."  
  
"I'm not as good as you. My father said he'd get me on the team if I wanted to be on, but, well, I only wanted to be a Seeker. maybe to try and show everyone that someone could be as good as you. I dunno."  
  
"I've had that before." Harry said with grimace. "Hey, Malfoy, I."  
  
"Don't call me that. I hate that name. Every time now someone hears it they get all tense and scared, and scream or run or do something stupid."  
  
"Sorry. Um, Draco.can I ask you something?"  
  
"You just did."  
  
"Ok, well.I don't mean to be rude, but.what's it like, growing up in a Death Eaters house?"  
  
"Well, I'd tell you, but I dunno whose listening. You're being followed by people who could use info like that against me."  
  
"Ah. Ok. How do you know that?"  
  
"Father."  
  
"Ah." They sat in silence for a while, Draco staring at the night sky, which had cleared up, and Harry watch the flames dance inside the rock circle they were inclosed in. Bedivere had lain down and gone to sleep about 20 metres away from them. It was very quiet, except for the odd animal noise, when suddenly.  
  
BANG!!  
  
Draco grabbed Harry and pulled him down; Harry thought a bomb or a gun had gone off.  
  
"Scare like a bunch of seagulls, don't youse?"  
  
Emmaline stood behind the fire, in her hand a bag which was bulging, and in the other, their wands. She seemed to only realise after that they were lying next to each other.  
  
"Oi! Are youse two fighting again?" she asked, dropping the bag and pulling Draco away from Harry. "What have youse been doing?"  
  
"Nothing." Draco said.  
  
"Yeah, well, we'll see." Said Em, and she stood Draco up, faced him and stared into his eyes. He seemed to go into a trance as Harry watched, sitting up. Em's eyes grew wider and wider, and she had very mixed expressions on her face. She seemed very amused.  
  
When she stopped and walked back to where she'd dropped the bag, Draco stood there for a minute, and then seemed to snap back into reality.  
  
"Damn you, Emma. I hate it when you do that! What did you see?" He asked, storming over to her. He was just taller then she was.  
  
"Enough. But it's more what I FELT then what I saw." She said with a grin. She looked over at Harry and winked. She tossed him his wand, which he pocketed. She handed Draco his and he sat down, not next to Harry, but more to the other side of the fire. "It's no use trying to hide it, Draco. You might as well not bother. I know what's going on. Stop being a sook."  
  
"I don't know what's going on! Can someone tell me?" Harry asked angrily.  
  
"Nope. You're going to sleep. We have to leave early tomorrow." Said Em, tossing him a blanket from the bag. She handed one to Draco and said, "I'll wake youse up, ok?"  
  
"Aren't you going to sleep?" Draco asked.  
  
"Later. 'Night." She said, and made her way over to Bedivere with the bag.  
  
Harry moved around so that he could see Draco properly. He crawled under the blanket and pretended to lie down to sleep.  
  
"What did she do?" Harry asked.  
  
"Read my mind. The Dark Lord and Dumbledore can do it. And from what I understand it's what Snape was doing to you when you took Remedial Potions last year."  
  
"But don't you need a wand for that?"  
  
"She doesn't. She's had enough time to perfect it."  
  
"Oh. Ok then. What shouldn't you be bothering with?"  
  
"Nothing. You'll probably find out later. Night, Harry.  
  
"OK. Goodnight, Draco." Harry took his glasses out of his robes and placed them next to him, and closed his eyes. He felt Draco lie down, because their heads touched briefly. For some strange reason that Harry couldn't explain, he felt very content.  
  
The next morning they were off again, while it was still dark, sailing silently on Bedivere's back over the tiny towns below. They landed outside a town just outside London and hid behind a large hedge, just out of view from the street. Em gave a wave of her wand, once Harry and Draco had hopped off Bedivere, and they watched in amazement and his wings disappeared and he shrank down to the size of a normal horse.  
  
"Ok, let's go." Em said, and they walked for ten minutes into London.  
  
Harry saw that they got a few weird looks, but nothing too bad. Not before long they arrived outside the shabby telephone box that was the visitors' entrance of the Ministry of Magic.  
  
"You two go ahead," said Em, "I'll have to go in another way with this one." She said, patting Bedivere the horse. She trotted away and down into an alley, leaving Harry and Draco standing next to the box. They entered and dialled the special number, and soon, a cool female voice was speaking to them. When asked to state their name and reason for visiting the ministry, Harry began, "Harry Potter and." but he was cut off.  
  
".Draco Malfoy. Harry's here to meet Mr. Weasley and I was dragged along because me and my teacher are going somewhere afterwards."  
  
"Thank you. Please take your badges and enjoy your stay at the Ministry of Magic." Harry picked up the badges, seeing that his said, 'HARRY POTTER, VISITING' and Draco's said, 'DRACO MALFOY, HERE BY FORCE.'  
  
They entered the Atrium and Draco pulled his hood over his face. He seemed very nervous and stuck close to Harry, as though Harry's popularity with the Ministry would wash onto him. They saw Emmaline running over to join them from the other side of the room.  
  
"Hey guys. Get in no worries?" They nodded and followed her to the security section, where Harry got through ok, Draco was asked whether he was planning any terrorist action while at the Ministry, at which he spat back a 'No!', but to Harry's surprise, Em was taken into a back room for five minutes before returning, wearing as well as her visitors badge, a green badge with a blue 'S' on it. When they'd left the security desk, Harry asked, "What's the 'S' stand for?"  
  
"Suspect." She said with a grin. Before Harry could ask why she could possibly be a 'Suspect', they were outside the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office.  
  
"You two wait here for a moment." Said Em, and she entered and closed the door behind her.  
  
Harry and Draco stood in silence for a few moments, the corridor empty except for them. Draco looked at Harry as he took off his glassed to rub his eyes. He looked at Draco before replacing them, and before he knew it, Draco had leaned in very close to Harry. He got the uneasy performing butterflies in his stomach again, but this time it wasn't as bad.  
  
"Tell anyone about us being friends and I'll kill you like I had planned." He said, and then, to Harry's surprise and enjoyment, Draco leaned in and kissed him, his soft, rose lips caressing Harry's full ones. At first Harry wasn't to sure what to do, then he started to kiss him back, and their tongues soon finding each other and gently touching and stroking. Adrenalin like Harry had never known surged through him, and he felt lighter then air. It lasted about 20 seconds, before Draco pulled away and resumed the position he had before he had leaned in to threaten him. Harry stared at him for a second, then the office door before them opened and Em and Mr. Weasley burst out.  
  
"Harry! Good to see you again!" Mr. Weasley said, shaking his hand vigorously, "And who's this?" Draco removed his hood, and tried his best not to look angry or disgusted. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy." Said Mr. Weasley, his voice changed into one that was worried and cautious, "It's, uh.it's good to finally meet you properly." And he held out his hand. Draco looked over at Em, who'd been surveying Harry, and she shot him a don't-do-it-and-your-life-wont-be-worth-living glare, and so to Harry's surprise, Draco held out his hand and shook Mr. Weasley's quickly. But still, he'd done it.  
  
"Well, we'd better hit the road," said Em, slapping Draco across the shoulder, "people to talk about, things to see.well, Harry, I'll see you around. Have a good one." And she steered Draco around and headed down the corridor.  
  
Mr. Weasley put his arm around Harry in a one arm hug and said, 'Harry! You'll have to tell me about what's been happening! I heard off Ginny that Ron and Hermione were getting."  
  
But Mr. Weasley's words washed over Harry, as he steered him back into the office. Harry stole a quick glance over his shoulder just as Draco did; their eyes met just as Draco turned the corner with Em. Harry and Draco both wished that they could have had a few extra moments together. Harry couldn't explain why he felt like this, but he could only come to one conclusion; he liked Draco Malfoy! 


	3. A friend from a foe

Harry sat in a haze at Grimauld Place for the next few days. He continually went over the scene with Draco at the Ministry in his head, while he was alone in his room. He tried to pretend like it had never happened. He didn't dare tell Ron or Hermione; he knew it would result only in an uproar. He tried to analyse it from different angles, which didn't help at all, and when he wasn't thinking about Draco he was miserable being in his late godfather's home.  
  
Kretcher was absent from the house. It seemed that when he found about Sirius's death he left immediately, and headed for the closeted people he could call 'master': The Malfoy's. But now that house only held Narcissa and Draco, and Harry didn't like thinking about Draco. He often felt surging feelings rise in him whenever the Malfoy's name was mentioned, or when he read it in the Daily Prophet. He spent his time at Grimauld Place alone, except for meals and whenever he was needed. He hated being back and he couldn't wait to get away.  
  
A few weeks later, after Christmas, the doorbell rang, which re awoke Mrs.Black, who hadn't changed her ways since his last visit.  
  
"DIRTY, FILTHY SCUM! YOU NO LONGER HAVE BUISNESS IN FOREFATHER'S HOUSE! IT'S YOUR FAULT MY SON IS DEAD!" Harry, who'd left his room to see who'd arrive, standing on the landing, felt a sudden stab of guilt. He'd been told repetitively that it wasn't his fault, but he'd convinced himself it was. He peered over the railing and down into the entrance, and saw Emmaline being carried in by Lupin and Moody. Harry could just see a trail of blood running down her face, and she seemed to be unconscious. Her face was black and blue, and there was an ugly looking, bloody wound slightly visible from her side. Mrs.Weasley hurried towards them, after Hermione had opened the door, and led them to the drawing room, locking the door behind her. The only time Harry had thought about Emma was when he remembered the last look Draco had given him before she led him away. He hadn't figured out where they had gone. Hermione looked up at him, a very scared expression on her face, and he returned it with a grim one of his own.  
  
For three days Lupin didn't leave the drawing room, and every time Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny tried to steal a look inside they had the door slammed politely in their face. After Harry had told them about Lucinda leaving with Draco at the ministry, leaving out certain details, Hermione, right on cue, figured out where Emmaline had been.  
  
"Well, you said Malfoy asked whether he needed protection, didn't you? I heard that Professor Clarke has, um, other business," she whispered carefully, as they sat with Ginny in Harry's room. With the absence of Fred and George, Harry and Ron got rooms to themselves, "with, erm, unfriendly people, so I'm guessing she went to Azkaban, and Professor Dumbledore asked her to take Malfoy with her so he could see his dad. Well," she said matter- of-factly, "that's my opinion, anyway."  
  
Ron stared at her, his mouth open wide. "Did you just think of that off the top of your head?"  
  
"And how did you know about Em- Clarke being involved with unfriendly people?" Harry added.  
  
"Well, obviously, you have an idea too, don't you Harry? Something you forgot to tell us?" Hermione asked slyly.  
  
"Well, all I know is that Lucinda Clarke is an alias. That's it. Her real name is." the warning that Emmaline had given Draco flashed across his head. Ah, Draco.Harry felt a smile sneak onto his face. Why was he thinking like this? He snapped himself out of it, ". her name is on the wall in her office, on a plaque under a photo.she told me that if Dra-Malfoy told anyone what her name really was then he'd die a slow and painful death. I dunno if that will happen to me too."  
  
Hermione grinned with satisfaction. "I knew it! I knew you knew something about her! Ok, hows this: as long as you don't tell us what her name is, can you tell us everything else you know, and we promise we wont tell anyone!" Ron and Ginny nodded enthusiastically in agreement.  
  
"OK, all I know is that she was Ministress of Magic in Hidden City- Australia, Ron, - and before she came here she was Defence Ministress. She said she had some business to attend to, but I didn't know they were going to Azkaban. How did you find that out?"  
  
"Well," said Hermione, "I kind of, overheard, um, Mr and Mrs Weasley talking about it. Apparently," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper, so that the three of them had to lean in closer to hear, "Lucinda, or whatever her name is, has got very close connections in V-Voldemort's inner- oh, stop that, Ron, - his inner circle. Ever wondered why she always wears those black gloves? It all makes sense!"  
  
"So," said Ron, slowly, "are you trying to say that Professor Clarke is actually a Death Eater spying for us, or spying for him?"  
  
"I don't know that yet, but I don't think she's spying for him. I'm guessing that she's doing what Snape's doing: pretending she's spying for them, when she's really spying for us. Like what Kingsley did for us last year with Sirius and the Ministry. Anyway, that's just a guess."  
  
Harry took this in slowly. Em was pretending to be on Voldemort's side, when she was really leaking in information to the Order. He agreed; it did make sense when it was all laid out.  
  
"So, if Hermione thinks that that's what's going on, then it's obviously what's going on. Hey!" exclaimed Ron, breaking the whispering, "maybe Harry can accidentally call her by her real name, and we'll coincidently walk right in at that moment and she'll have to tell all!" he smiled from ear to ear, as though this was the greatest plan ever concocted. Hermione nodded, and Ron went bright pink.  
  
"It could work.but then again, we don't know what her powers are like; she might know what's going on before we even leave this room."  
  
As though something was going to happen, Harry, Ron and Ginny all looked around in case she jumped out from behind something. Hermione sighed exasperated.  
  
"She's not here now! Honestly. So when can we do this?" she asked.  
  
"Tonight, if you want." Harry said. So they made up a plan and set out to the drawing room. But as they reached the landing and looked over into the entrance, they saw Emmaline standing, her hand on the door, ready to leave and talking to Moody. He whispered something in her ear and she looked up. She grinned at the four of them.  
  
"Hey guys! How'ya hol's been?"  
  
They stood there in dumbfound silence.  
  
"Hang on." she said, turning to Moody, and talking urgently to him. He nodded at something, and she turned her attention back to the four staring down at them, "Harry! We need to get you back to Hogwarts! Or," she added silently to Moody, "they'll have me head on the choppin' board. Both of them. Oi!" she called back to them, "I'm about to head off now, so if you wanna tag along and get there with no worries, then come on down! When are you guys going back?" she asked. Moody grunted something. "Right. Oi! Harry, you got a choice. Come with me now and we dun have to worry too much about an attack. Or you can go back with these guys and Moody." She smiled at him, and Mad Eye whispered in her ear. Her smile slowly faded but perked back up as soon as he'd moved away. "I gotta hit the road, so, if you could get your mind clicking.you know."she said, making hurry-up-or-miss-out gestures with her hands.  
  
Harry turned to Hermione, Ron and Ginny. Hermione had a stern look on her face.  
  
"They will be expecting you to travel back with Moody, Lupin and them.it would be safer." She said. Ron nodded, and added, "Yeah, and we'll be seeing you soon anyway."  
  
"Commin' or goin', Harry?" Em called. Then, the strangest thing happened. A small voice in his head, his optimistic voice, suddenly said, "I don't wanna be killed goin' to school, Harry. Can we go and get out of here, already? This place makes us sad."  
  
"Yeah, just let me say goodbye." He called down to her. He turned to his friends. "Well, I'll see youse around, I guess." Harry said.  
  
"Ok, Harry. Take care." Said Hermione, giving him a hug, then Ginny. Ron patted him on the back as he headed down the stairs, and whispered, "I dunno why she gets worked up about you going out by yourself, especially since you usually have a teacher or someone with you. Well," he said, turning his voice up, "See you soon, Harry!"  
  
"Yeah, you too." Harry replied, reaching the landing. He turned to face Em and Moody. "What about my-"  
  
"Your trunk will be delivered, like last time." Said Em, without him finishing his question.  
  
"Oh, ok then. Well," he said, turning to the small crowd, "I'll see you lot later. See you soon, Moody," he finished, shaking Mad Eye's rough hand.  
  
"Take care, Potter. Anything, suspicious, happens" he said, looking Harry in the eye with his own, his magical eye swivelling towards Em, who rolled her own, "let us know, ok? Be good." And Harry waved to everyone as Em led him outside.  
  
Grimauld Place slowly disappeared and Em and Harry were left standing before an empty block.  
  
"Um, how are we getting to Hogwarts?" he asked her. She turned to him, and held put a stuffed toy, which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, her black gloves holding it around the neck.  
  
"Portkey!" she said in an enthusiastic tone, "Here! Take a, leg, or something." she said, looking at it for a good place for him to grip. Harry took it by the arm. "Ready? One.Two.Three!"  
  
Once again, Harry felt as though a hook was pulling at the back of his navel. They lifted off the ground and soon disappeared.  
  
Harry and Emmaline landed with a thud on Hogwarts grounds, just in front of the Entrance.  
  
"Yay! Home again!" said Em excitedly, leaving Harry with the stuffed toy and racing up the stone steps. Harry watched after her. This teenaged hardly seemed like a Death Eater, he thought. Em wheeled around in her tracks.  
  
"Uh, are you comin'? Or are you gonna stand outside in this freezin' cold? Jeeze, it's cold. Harry! Get inside!" she motioned for him to follow her, and she pushed the doors open and slipped inside. Harry jogged up behind her.  
  
The Entrance Hall had lost all of its Christmas decorations, and it looked plain and cold as it usually did. But Harry felt a lot safer here then he did at Grimauld Place. Em turned to face him, a wide smile on her face.  
  
"Well, what do you want to do? I think that we're the only ones here, so we can." but she stopped dead. Her face fell in an instant and the warm feeling Harry had been receiving off her died as quickly as her smile did. She looked strait towards the passage to the dungeons. "Maybe not." She said, in a voice most unlike her own. She grabbed Harry's robes and pulled him into a broom cupboard. She pressed her gloved finger against his lips and opened the door so it was a-jar, and crouched down, watching the passage to the dungeons like a hawk. Harry stood in the darkness, looking out as well. He couldn't hear anything, except for his and Emma's breathing, but other then that, the Hall was silent.  
  
They waited there for a few minutes, before the broom cupboard started to become crowded. Harry went to open his mouth, but before he could, Em had stood up and made a cat like hissing noise at him. She looked back out the crack in the door. He lent over and followed her gaze. Though he didn't realise it at first, he noticed that he had pressed his body against hers, and their heads were very close together, looking out the door. His heart started pounding, and he could feel sweat building up on the back of his neck. 'Don't even think about it; she's your Transfiguration Professor!' said a voice in the back of his head with urgency. But then, the optimistic voice that had persuaded him to leave Grimauld Place piped in, 'But she said so herself: she's still only a teenager, like yourself." Harry blinked dumbfounded and wondered why he was feeling like this. Then he remembered that he'd always feel the same whenever Cho was within eyesight. He's felt this again when Draco had touched his scar.the sweat on Harry's forehead was trickling down his neck.  
  
At that moment, Harry heard very faint footsteps. He went to get a better look out of the broom cupboard when Em closed the door and turned to face him. She made a shush noise at him and she held his hands. His scar gave a slight prickle, but then again, he was nervous. She closed her eyes, and then Harry heard a voice that he thought was in the cupboard with them.  
  
"I'll teach that spoilt brat to lie to me.He knows what I can do but he didn't think.stupid little blonde prat."  
  
It was Professor Snape. Harry closed his eyes and he could suddenly see the Entrance Hall, and Snape striding through it. His greasy hair didn't move as he went up the stairs and disappeared down a corridor.  
  
Em let go of his hands, and the Entrance Hall faded away out of his mind. He looked at her and saw her face was screwed up in concentration. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes and grinned at him.  
  
"Sorry 'bout that. I'm not in Snape's good book, so, I suspect he would have been suspicious to see us back here early. Well, it's getting." she eyed him slyly, "hot, in here, isn't it?" and she opened the door and they stumbled out.  
  
Harry had to admit, it had been hot in there, and the winter chill of the Entrance Hall swept over him. Em looked at him.  
  
"Well, I have to get to my office and do some correcting, so if you."  
  
"How'd you do that thing, where I could see the Entrance Hall and hear Snape talking?" Harry interrupted.  
  
"Lots of practice!" said Em, poking his nose and running away up the stairs, going in the opposite direction that Snape had, leaving Harry in the Entrance Hall alone.  
  
He moved towards the wall, and sat down, leaning against it. His scar had stopped prickling, and he wondered what he was going to do now. He figured that he'd go to Gryffindor Common Room, or head up to Em's office and look at all of her pictures and listen to her stories. Or perhaps he'd go and see if Dumbledore was here, and catch up with him. Just when he got up, after he'd decided that he'd walk around and see which presented itself first, he found himself face to face with Draco Malfoy.  
  
"What are you doing here, Harry?" he asked.  
  
He was defiantly worse for wear. While his hair was exactly as it had always been, perfect, his left eye had been beaten, and was a very deep shade of purple. His lip had been cut open, and there was a red mark on his cheek, where it had been hit. There was also a bruise above his left temple. And even though Harry could tell he was in pain, he still managed to smirk at Harry, with some grimace.  
  
"I had to come back early, but that's my business, Draco. What happened to your face?"  
  
"That would be my business. Actually," said Draco, looking up, thinking, "it's your fault I'm like this. Do you know where Emmy is?"  
  
"She's here. Hang on," said Harry. Something had just clicked in his brain. "Em was beaten too! What happened to her? You two must have been together!"  
  
"Actually, no, Harry." Said Draco, staring him in the eye, "I, if you must know, was attacked my father. Em was attacked by my aunt. Happy now?" he asked, and he turned towards the staircase. He'd gotten half way before his words sunk into Harry's head. Draco was now at the top of the stairs, and was heading down the corridor. Harry sprinted after him. Just as Draco turned around to see what had been following him, Harry grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall. Draco hit it with a thud and a look of fear spread across his face. But only for a second.  
  
"What is it Harry? Angry? Confused?" he asked with a smirk. Harry pinned him against the wall harder. Draco's smirk disappeared. "Listen, Emmy was attacked after I was. I didn't know until a few hours after. I couldn't do anything, and when you do this, I still can't do anything."  
  
Both he and Harry were breathing very heavily. Draco was staring Harry in the eye, and the feeling that Harry got in the broom cupboard came back. He loosened his grip on Draco, who straitened himself up. They were very close together now.  
  
"Listen, Harry. If I find something out, before everyone comes back, then I will tell you something, ok? But." he said, looking Harry up and down, "just give me some warning before you go pushing yourself up against me like that." He gave another smirk, brushed himself against Harry and continued towards Em's office. A thousand questions appeared in Harry's mind, but before he could ask one, Draco had turned a corned and was out of sight. So instead Harry headed towards Gryffindor Tower, and changed into different robes.  
  
At dinner there were only four people: Harry, Draco, Em and Snape. A table had been placed, not in the Great Hall, but in one of the rooms off it. It was bigger then the room Harry had gone into after being announced for the Triwizard Tournament. There was a small table in the middle of the room, with a chair on each side, and a fire was roaring on the back wall. Harry had arrived last, to find Snape glaring at him, Em smiling at him and Draco avoiding his eye. He sat down and food instantly appeared on the table.  
  
"Did you have a good trip, Potter?" Snape asked him.  
  
"Uh, when?" Harry asked. Em had gone cold and Draco had gone white. They were all staring at Snape.  
  
"You know, at the Ministry. Did you get there ok, and did you get to You- Know-Where safely? No, distractions, along the way?"  
  
Draco, who had been just about to put something in his mouth, dropped his fork and looked frightened. Harry looked at Em, who put on a very brave smile.  
  
"Well, actually, Mr. Snape, I got Harry safely to the Ministry, no worries. And Arthur looked after him like a son, eh Harry? And when I got to You- Know-Where, he was as happy as Larry. He had a good trip, so don't worry yourself, Mr. Snape."  
  
"Well," said Snape, looking at Em with daggers, "I just thought that the conditions that he'd been travelling in, his company, you know, that he might have been in danger. I couldn't begin to imagine what kind of people a trio like you could attract." He finished with a very snide smile. Harry was to scared to speak. Draco still hadn't looked at anyone, keeping his eyes directly on his food.  
  
"Oh," said Em, regaining her stride, "I'm sure you could imagine very well who a trio like us could attract. A lot of old friends, eh Serverus? Or are they foes now?" She gave a small chuckle, "I can never keep track."  
  
Snape's smile had gone. He had turned an albino white.  
  
"Well," said Em, "I'm stuffed. I have important work to do. You understand." She said. She gave a grin to everyone and swept from the room. Draco muttered something about not being hungry, and followed her out the door. All that were left in the small room were Harry and Snape.  
  
Harry looked at Snape, who stared strait back at him.  
  
"Potter, if you have any more contact with Malfoy, then you will die." Said Snape.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Said Harry, as innocently as he could. But the kiss with Draco had slipped into his head, and was replaying it's self over and over.  
  
"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about!" Snape yelled, standing up. He leaned across the table at Harry, and leaned in close. "Heed my warning, Potter! He was hurt because of you, and I wont let it happen again!" he stood up strait and swept away through a side door, leaving Harry alone in the room.  
  
"Well," said a voice behind him, and Harry wheeled around in his seat to find the picture of Violet, The Fat Lady's friend, staring at him, "I must say, good job at getting him angry. But Harry," she said, beckoning him to lean in. Harry rose from his chair and moved closer to her portrait, "I know for a fact that that man is hiding something. I don't know what it is, but it's there."  
  
"Why are you being nice to me?" Harry asked her, "I thought you didn't like me."  
  
"Well," said Violet in a huff, "I don't like him more then I don't like you. I suppose you'll be heading to Gryffindor Tower?" Harry nodded. "Ok." She said, and she moved out of the frame. Harry left the room, and as he closed the door behind him, he could hear the House Elves removing their plates.  
  
When Harry did reach Gryffindor Tower, he found Draco sitting next to the Fat Lady's Portrait.  
  
"Harry!" she exclaimed, "Get this," she said, pointing towards Draco, "away from here! He wont leave!"  
  
"What do you want?" Harry asked.  
  
"To talk to you. Em's busy, Snape can't look at me in the eye and well, you're the only one left." He said, getting up. "Where have you been this whole time? I've been waiting here with her for ages!"  
  
The Fat Lady gave a huff.  
  
'Well, that isn't my fault, Draco. Now, excuse me. Twinkerbell." He said to the Fat Lady, stalking past Draco and entering the Common Room. But he heard a cry behind him.  
  
"Harry! Harry, He's coming in! Stop him!"  
  
Harry wheeled around to find Draco scramble up through the hole after him, kicking the back of the portrait as he stood up. He dusted himself off and looked at Harry.  
  
"Were you just going to leave me there?" asked Draco. Harry nodded. He headed up to his dormitory. Draco followed.  
  
"What do you want? Quit following me!" Harry said angrily, entering the 6th year's dorm. He went down and lay on his bed. Draco stood next to it, grinning.  
  
"I'm bored, Harry. Do something entertaining." Harry closed the hangers around his bed on Draco. But Harry could still tell he was there. "Don't ignore me, Potter. And don't pretend I'm not here, cause I know you can't!"  
  
Harry froze. How did Draco know he'd been trying to forget him? The butterflies in his stomach were starting to rise. He pulled back the hangers slightly, and stuck his head out. Draco was still standing there, smirking at him.  
  
"Snape told me that if I had any contact with you then I'd die, and from what I know, Voldemort's already tabbed me for that. So sod off."  
  
"And do what?" Draco asked, sitting on the side of Harry's bed, "Hang around the castel for four days by myself? I don't think so. Not when I have you to entertain me."  
  
He smiled at Harry, and the cut on his lip stretched wide. Harry noticed that since Draco had disappeared to Em's office earlier that day, the purple ness in his eye had gone gown drastically.  
  
"Why was it my fault that that your father it you? Where did you go with Em at the Ministry? Why did you, uh," Harry thought of the kiss. It had been good, he realised, "do that thing at the Ministry?" he asked, his questions coming out. He looked up at Draco, expecting some snide answer. He didn't get it.  
  
"Well, I went to Azkaban with Em, because she had business there, and I wanted to see my father. Emmy said you already figured that out. My father hit me across the face," he said, pointing to his lip, "and I hit my head against the stone walls there," he said, pointing now at the bruise above his temple, "and then he punched me." He said, indicating to his eye. He did that because you kissed me at the Ministry." He finished promptly.  
  
"WHAT?" flamed Harry, sitting bolt right, and throwing back the hangers. Draco looked alarmed, but excited, "You kissed me first!"  
  
"Yeah, well," said Draco, throwing back his hair, "get over it. If you don't stop looking at me like that then I'll do it again."  
  
Harry didn't mind the prospect of this, as he looked up at Draco. The moonlight, floating in the window near his bed, was draping Draco in itself and his hair shone like silk. When he wasn't insulting someone, he actually looked quite good. His grey eyes had lost their steel look, and were now soft as they looked into Harry's. "Why are you being nice to me?" Harry asked.  
  
"Because, I don't know. Don't question me." Draco said, bending in closer to Harry. They were now only inches apart, Draco looking down into Harry. "But it wasn't that bad, was it, Potter? I could tell you enjoyed it. I did." He whispered with satisfaction.  
  
Harry had a feeling that Draco was letting something off, because Harry lent up, and without thinking, pressed his lips against Draco's. They were soft, as before, but now it was different. He wasn't nervous, and soon Draco was kissing him back. Harry could feel Draco's tongue slip inside his mouth once again, and soon Harry was lying on his back on his bed, Draco on top of him, kissing him deeply. Adrenalin rushed back through Harry, and he was enjoying every moment of it, as was Draco. He was satisfying a lust he'd had since he'd first played Harry in Quidditch. Before Harry knew it, Draco was undoing Harry's jeans, and he moved away from his face.  
  
"Are you all right with this, Harry?" he asked. Harry had never seen him being nice like this. Harry's emotions were running wild; he needed Draco to keep going. He nodded and made some kind of feeble noise. Draco removed Harry's glasses and placed them on the bedside table.  
  
He moved down Harry's body, and came to rest where he'd just undone Harry's jeans, and took him in the mouth. Harry tried hard not to come to soon, Draco was satisfying him in a way he'd never been satisfied before. He grabbed the bed head and held in, moaning while Draco pleasured him. Draco came back up and looked at Harry with satisfaction. He'd gotten quite a bit out of it too, obviously. He crawled back up and lay down next to Harry, his head resting on his chest, which was moving sharply up and down, but was softening.  
  
"Did you like that, Harry?" Draco asked, looking up at him. He couldn't believe how good Harry looked without his glasses on and panting. Harry nodded, calming down. For a few minutes they just lay there, panting, and soon after began talking about things that best friends were talking about, and they learned a few things off each other, too. Draco stayed in Gryffindor Tower until the early hours of the morning, when, after finishing a conversation about Harry's childhood, he realised that Snape would have been looking for him all night.  
  
"See what you've done now, Harry? I cant go near Snape, cause he'll kill you, and I cant go near Emmy, cause she'll figure out what we've been doing up here." Harry convinced him to leave, and head back to the dungeons, and make up some story when he got there. Draco left the dormitory, feeling lighter then air, and Harry lay on his bed, feeling the happiest he had in a few months. 


	4. It's over

Draco realised that he had come to a crossroad: he could fool around with Potter for a little while, or use it to his advantage, and there was only one person he knew who could tell him how to do that. He stalked away from the dungeons, a very evil grin on his face, and finished up outside an old door that he'd become used to seeing. He pushed it open and slid inside.  
  
"Emmy, I have a proposition for you!" he said, skipping across her large office over to behind her desk, where she was sitting, and hugging her around the neck.  
  
"What have you been up to?" she asked, putting down her quill, turning her head towards his face and smiling. She looked into his sharp, grey eyes, which had a wicked look about them. Draco watched in fascination as her own went from the deep, ocean blue to a fiery red. He was suddenly swept back to the Gryffindor Dormitory, and he could see, feel, hear and taste everything that had gone on up there.  
  
It all finished in an instant. When Draco returned to Emmaline's office he saw that she was not smiling at him anymore. She was smirking; her iris's swirling back to their original colour.  
  
"You horny little poof." She said, "And with Potter as well! You've always told me that you hate him so much.and here you are sucking him off."  
  
"Yeah well, it just happened. I thought you of all people would be able to do something with it."  
  
"Hang on. I'm not finished yet. See, the thing that I can't understand is, well, you enjoyed it." She said with an evil grin.  
  
"What? No I."  
  
"Yes you did. I felt it." Said Em with conviction, "So why did you come here and tell me now, rather then let me find out tomorrow morning at breakfast when I feel the waves of discomfort pump out of you both?"  
  
"Because," said Draco, "I thought you could use it."  
  
"For what?" she snorted at him.  
  
"Well, I know you're here to look after Harry." said Draco, "But you know it won't be long before you're called back into his presence."  
  
"Who's?" Em asked innocently. Draco wasn't fooled. He made his way towards the door.  
  
"Aunt Bella knows you're here, Emmy, so it won't be long till he knows too. I don't want you to get hurt." And with that he left, leaving Emmaline to sit in worry.  
  
Harry made his way down to breakfast that morning, only to find Draco and Em sitting at the table, with Draco reading the paper. Em looked over at him, and smirk crept across her face. He knew instantly that she knew.  
  
"How'zit, Harry?" she asked him, and empty bowl of something in front of her. He crossed the room and sat down, opposite Draco. He looked up over the top of the Daily Prophet and grinned at him. "Did you get enough sleep?" she asked.  
  
"Plenty." Said Harry, looking over at her. He sat down and looked at his plate, which instantly filled with food. Draco had gone back to his paper, but he could feel Emmaline's eyes burning through him. He stole a glance at her and swore that her eyes had been red. Blinking furiously, he realised that they were blue.  
  
"Bit sleepy there, Harry? You obviously wasted your time in bed if you are still tired. I mean, what were you do-OW!"  
  
Harry noticed Draco move slightly, as Em bent under the table and rubbed her leg. She reappeared and scowled at him. She turned back to Harry.  
  
"Where's -"  
  
"He didn't feel like joining us today." Said Em, talking about Snape before Harry could finish his question. "Besides, he's not the prettiest sight to see first thing in the morning."  
  
Draco gave a snort and looked over his paper. Harry could see that his hair was done perfectly, and he looked radiant as the sun filtered through the window. "Please don't tell me you only just realised that?" he said sarcastically. But Harry noticed a strange coldness had grown around Em, and she was directing it at Draco, who clearly didn't like it.  
  
"Well, I'm stuffed. See you around, Harry." She said, and she unceremoniously left the table. As Harry took a swig from his goblet she left the room. The door slammed behind her and Draco threw down his paper.  
  
"Stupid bitch. She thinks she can snob me off and chuck a hissy fit, just because I warned her? Cow. She can't ignore me for long." He said, angrily. He looked Harry in the eye, a grin chasing across his face. "Well, now I really have no one to talk to except for you. What do you want to do today?" he asked. And Harry was happy to see that things weren't weird for them.  
  
***Ok guys, I really can't see this story going anywhere, so I'm calling it quits and returning back to my original works. I hope you enjoyed the little bit of what I gave you. It never quite reached where I wanted it to go, but, well, can't be helped. If I get new ideas then I'll start writing them again, but I dunno if I'll put them up. Thanks.*** 


End file.
